Accra, Ghana, November 15, 2018//-Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta is set to present the 2019 Budget and Economic Statement of the Akufo-Addo-led government in Parliament today.
The 2019 budget will be his third budget since the coming into office of the administration in January 7, 2017.
But Ghanaians are not enthused with the performance of his 2017 and budgets which embolden them to conclude that the 2019 budget will go the same way,
The turn of events after the 2017 and 2018 “funfair” budgets are really shocking to many Ghanaians. Things seem to have fallen apart and the centre can no longer hold.
Those gone by budgets were full of the promises of jobs and the removal of some 18 nuisance taxes which were having knock-on-effect on the economy. Although the Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament (MPs) advised him to be careful about the removal of these taxes, he stuck on his guns.
The jobs which he promised the teeming unemployed Ghanaians never got delivered but rather majority of people who were working in sectors such as banking and finance, media, manufacturing, mining and telecoms lost their jobs due to difficult economic conditions, high electricity tariffs, rising fuel prices, weak currency, as well as corporate governance challenges.
These current economic hardships in the country are blamed on harsh fiscal policies implemented by the government.
Fuel prices have gone up on 17 different occasions in the last 21 months leading to increases in transport fares and food prices thereby affecting the prices of every commodity and service in the country.
The Ghana Cedi has depreciated significantly leading to hardships and uncertainty for businesses.
Value Added Tax (VAT) has been increased through the back door by decoupling National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) and Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Levy from the old VAT regime (and denying businesses their right to Input Tax Credit), leading to a 5% increase in production cost which has affected the prices of all goods and services in the country.
A luxury car tax of between GHS 1,000 and GHS 2,000 for vehicles with engine capacity ranging between 2950 cc and above has been imposed on the overburden Ghanaians. Note that these cars already attract graduated import and excise duties at the time of importation.
“Though referred to as a Luxury Car Tax, this affects vehicles that do not boast of any luxurious features including those used on farms and in construction.
A 10% increase in the Personal Income Tax (PIT) marginal rate to 35 percent for employees and self-employed earning GHS 10,000 and above has been introduced”, according to the Minority MPs.
The 5% National Fiscal Stabilization Levy has been extended beyond its 31st December 2017 expiry date, effectively making it a new tax.
“The 2% component of the Special Import Levy has been maintained in spite of the sunset clause in the legislation that introduced it.
Also, the amount paid for Import Duties have gone up astronomically leading to an increase in the price of imported items because of the disruptions in policies that have resulted in distorted Benchmark system and the Cargo Tracking Notes measures.
These tax measures and other policies have combined to make life unbearable for Ghanaians and they run contrary to the clear promise made by President Akufo-Addo in 2016”, the MPs stated.
Even the President recently admitted that things are tough. So, it is time for the government to listen, to alleviate the plight of Ghanaians.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
Email: mk68008@gmail.com
